Corner guards are well known for their ability to protect the protruding edge of two adjoining walls. The protruding edge is a 90 degree right angle extending from the floor to the ceiling at the juncture of two adjoining walls, the protruding edge also referred to as the corner, the corner edge, or simply the edge. The primary purpose of the conventional corner guard is to protect the edge from damage. For example, if the corner edge is painted and a chair is pushed into the edge, the corner may chip unless protected by a corner guard. If the wall is covered with decorative wall covering such as wallpaper and a person brushes against the edge, the paper will peel unless protected by a corner guard. The use of inflexible materials such as tile or brick for construction assures protection of the corner edge despite the regularity in which the corner edge impacted, however, injury is expected to befall a person who accidentally collides with a corner edge made from inflexible materials.
During an emergency many people, especially the very young and very old, can become confused, disoriented, and lost, increasing the likelihood of injury if the person collides with an inflexible corner edge. If an emergency is accompanied by a loss of hallway illumination the inflexible corner edge becomes a dangerous obstacle. Those familiar with commercial buildings, especially retirement homes and hospitals are cognizant of the safety problems that accompany an emergency situation where no natural lighting is available. Due to these safety problems most jurisdictions require, by law, that commercial buildings whether public or private have emergency lighting to assist persons in avoiding corner edges or other obstacles that become dangerous obstacles in an unlit area.
The most familiar type of emergency lighting is an "EXIT" sign illuminated over designated escape routes. The exit sign is regulated by building codes and strategically placed over doorways or along the ceiling of corridors pointing toward a continuous and unobstructed means of egress to a pubic way. Exit signs are designed to be illuminated at all times whether or not a situation is termed emergency by a light source capable of sign illumination. However, illumination of an exit sign does not provide sufficient illumination for an occupant to safely avoid obstacles that are not illuminated, such as protruding corner edges. Code requires illumination of the exit sign, not the corridor leading up to the exit sign. For example, if smoke fills a corridor, occupants are expected to move through the corridor quickly while remaining as close to the floor surface as possible to prevent smoke inhalation, smoke filling the ceiling area first. The danger then arises that the occupants near the floor may strike a corner edge in their haste to escape. In addition, illumination of an exit sign mounted high overhead will not, in most situations, provide illumination if smoke covers the sign. Thus, without proper illumination the occupants may further succumb to panic leaving them confused, disoriented, or lost increasing the probability of injury to themselves and others.
One device used to overcome insufficient illumination during an emergency is spot lighting. Spot lights employ high intensity tungsten-halogen lamps using 1000 or higher wattage and are well suited for large unobstructed areas like factory warehouses, the singular source of light refracted and distributed over the area. Typically the electrical source is provided by a battery power supply with an AC charger during wait-state conditions. In the event of an emergency, the spot light has a means for automatically switching to the battery supply of electricity necessary to illuminate the spot lights during the emergency to provide the continuous supply. While the size of the battery depends upon the brilliance of light, the combination of battery, battery charger, and switch over device coupled with the spot lights is bulky. Placement of a conventional spot light near the base of a wall creates an unacceptable obstruction that may cause injury in and of itself.
When spot lighting is placed overhead in a confined area such as a corridor, the non-diffused light can add to disorientation or cause temporary blinding if an occupant looks at the light even momentarily. Since smoke is an excellent diffuser of light, spot lighting that illuminates a smoke filled corridor may cause a white-out effect creating a visual situation similar to that of having no light present.
Thus, the need for protecting a person from impacting a corner edge during an emergency is not being met, while efforts have been made toward effectively and simply resolving these problems, no satisfactory solution has heretofore been provided. My invention is specifically designed to compliment and in many situations overcome the aforementioned problems by providing a low cost, energy efficient illuminated corner guard. It is, therefore, to the effective resolution of these problems that the present invention is directed.